


Liar, liar, catfish on fire?

by Alexander_Daeqirelle



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Catfishing, Hydra (Marvel), Post-Captain America: The First Avenger
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-03
Updated: 2019-01-05
Packaged: 2019-10-03 21:28:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17291762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alexander_Daeqirelle/pseuds/Alexander_Daeqirelle
Summary: Hydra has the Winter Soldier, now they want Captain America. The Winter Soldier is given the task of catfishing Steve, pretending to be his missing friend Bucky, a man the Winter Soldier does not longer know. Never did they consider the possibility that all this talk of Bucky and Steve could make the Winter Soldier remember…





	1. Prologue

The room was empty, save for a simple wooden table in the centre of it. A man was sitting at it, his two arms (one of flesh, one of metal) in his lap. The Winter Soldier was he called. Another man, wearing a suit and looking very important, entered and as he sat down across the Soldier he placed a file on the table. He greeted the other man, who nodded in response, and opened the file. On top of the large pile of paper was a picture of a handsome young man dressed in a military uniform. He smiled proudly at the camera.  
“Do you know this man?” asked the man in the suit.  
“No.”  
“His name is James Buchanan Barnes. This file contains all the information we have about him and the people that were important in his life. You are to study it, memorise it. We have a new mission for you.”


	2. A birthday surprise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Natasha thinks Steve has been grieving for long enough and deserves some fun. Steve has a different definition of fun.

“And here are your pancakes.” Wanda puts the final plate on the table that is covered in Steve’s birthday breakfast and neatly or less neatly packed gifts.  
“Thanks guys. I haven’t had a birthday like this in a long time,” smiled Steve.  
“You’re welcome,” said Thor with a mouth so full of croissant it was barely understandable. Everyone laughed.  
After breakfast it was time to open his gifts. After he had unpacked a few books on various topics and had received a renewal of his gym membership, he was now holding a small white laminated card. He looked confused, turned it over and was even more confused. It simply said: **username steverogers; password 74647383**.  
“What is this for?” he asked curiously.  
“Access to your Tinder account,” answered Natasha, eyes sparkling. “I signed you up.”  
“You did what!?” Steve looked shocked.  
“I signed you up for Tinder,” said Natasha in the same tone one would use to discuss the weather. “God knows you deserve to have some fun, right?”  
Steve just sighed and shaked his head.

The rest of the day was spent hiking, picnicking and playing games and Steve didn’t think about the Tinder account much later when he was alone and lying in bed. No matter how much he appreciated how much Natasha cared about him and wanted him to be happy, he knew he would never use it. He had always only wanted Bucky, no one else and he was sure that this would never change. He turned over and fell asleep. But his ever present curiosity had him waking up the next morning wondering. Would there be people who were interested in him in the first place? Even though he would not date them, he found himself asking if these people existed at all and decided that it would never hurt to just check. Steve was surprised when he found he already had 47 messages and scrolled through them to see what kind of people they belonged to. And then his heart stopped. No, this couldn’t be. He was there when he fell of that train. He knew no one could survive such a fall. And yet here it was. A message from the man he had for so many years thought dead.  
_Hey Stevie! I’m so glad I found you! I know this must come as a surprise to you, but I will explain everything. Please text me. Your Bucky_  
And above it was a picture Steve knew all too well. Sitting on a bench next to their favourite hotdog place was none other than the man that meant more to him than everything else in the world. Bucky Barnes.


	3. Reconnecting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve reconnects with Bucky and his friends have questions

The rest of the day Steve functions on autopilot while his thoughts never seem to stop racing. This has to be some kind of sick joke right? There is no way that Bucky has survived that day. But who would do something like this? Still, this could not possibly be true. But oh, what if it was?

By the time the sun was setting he had made up his mind. He was going to text him. It would probably turn out to be false hope, but Steve knew he would never be able to forgive himself if it was really Bucky and he ignored him. So sitting on his bed in his pyjamas he took out his phone and texted his friend, starting with a simple “ _Hey”._  He almost instantly got a reply and stayed up almost all night as Bucky told him everything: from the fall to being taken by Hydra and how he finally on a very chaotic mission had been able to steal the phone of one of his victims and was now using that in secret to text Steve. Steve absorbed every word, his eyes practically glued to his phone. Even after Bucky finished his story they kept talking and Steve didn’t realise it was morning until Sam knocked on his door asking if he was ready for their morning run. It hurt to say goodbye but they promised to stay in touch, because by this time Steve was fully convinced that it was really him. Everything from what he said to how he said just screamed Bucky. Steve could almost not believe that after all this time they had found each other again.

 

It was not long before they were talking every second Bucky was able to use his phone without getting caught. They shared almost everything with each other. Steve even found himself waking up to his good-morningtexts. And even though they could never Skype or call, it truly felt like Bucky was part of his life again. He wasn’t sure why he didn’t tell the other Avengers about him, but with Steve being happier than he had been in a very long time, it was not long before they started to notice something was up. It was Natasha who finally brought it up.

“So, looks like Tinder worked out for you huh?” She asked casually but not subtle at all.

“What?” The two of them were on cooking duty tonight and Steve looked up from the tomatoes he had been chopping.

“Come on Steve, you’re smiling more than I’ve ever seen you do and you’re on your phone or lost in thought literally all the time. It’s obvious there’s something going on. Tell me, who’s the lucky guy?”

Avoiding having to face her penetrating gaze he focused on working on his tomatoes again. “Can’t I just be happy for no reason?”

“No.”

Steve sighed. “It’s not your business. Drop it Nat.”

“Whatever you want.” She turned back to her own task (preparing the chicken), hiding a smile and counting one, two, three and… Steve ran out of tomatoes, put the knife down, turned around, sighed again and said. “It’s Bucky.” He had to tell her. Natasha faced him and sighed too.

“Steve, I know you loved him but I meant…”

“I know what you meant, what I’m saying is it’s Bucky, now, he’s alive.” He interrupted her. Natasha’s face turned confused and concerned.

“Steve… You were there when he fell off that train. He can’t be alive. You know that.” “That’s what I thought I knew, but it’s really him, look.” He showed her his phone and Bucky’s explanation. She was silent for a bit, then seemed to come to a decision. “I call a house meeting. The others need to know about this.”

 

During their dinner, that also became a house meeting, it became clear that everyone shared Natasha’s concerns. There was no way that Bucky was still alive and Steve needed to delete everything of this fake profile and move on. Steve shook his head. “I know it sounds impossible, but I know Bucky and this is definitely him. He’s looking for a chance to escape. When that occurs he’ll text me and I’ll go help him. He has to get out of there, with or without your help.” Everyone went silent at the tone of his voice. Steve got up and left the room, already reaching for his phone. Bucky was the only thing that mattered right now.  

 


End file.
